My husband and I will have two nights in Baden-Baden, one full day devoted to hiking within the black forest. Right now we don't have a car and are wondering how we get to any black forest hikes from Baden-Baden. Is this possible? Or do we need to rent a car? We are american and have not ever driven in Europe before. Any advice, greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Posted by
Paradise
6632 posts
Medium 3-hour hike that begins at the Kurhaus and leads to the Merkur lift:
Easy 1-hr loop that begins at the CTS Klinik on Fremersbergstrasse:
I know nothing about these hikes personally. But as it is in many other towns, Baden-Baden seems to have a number of trailheads that are reachable with a short bus ride or even on foot.
Other area hikes:
https://www.baden-baden.com/en/hiking/hiking-trails
Posted by
City of Seattle
1768 posts
My family has hiked a bit in the Black Forest, and done our share of bicycle touring there as well. Not out of Baden Baden though, so I can only give you a bit of general information.
The low mountains that make up the Black Forest are just that, low. To my eye, being an outdoorsy Pacific Northwesterner, only at the very highest elevations do you start to see a lot of change in ecosystem to something that looks a little more Alpine, meadows, all evergreens, tree smaller and spaced farther apart. The vast majority of the Black Forest is more of a rolling woodland, and hiking there you spend the majority of your time in rolling woodland that all looks pretty similar.
As such, I wouldn't worry that you are majorly missing out on something a lot better by traveling far outside of Baden Baden to get started. It's a haul to get down toward Titisee, or (much) better Schluchsee, or any of the more iconic areas of the Southern Black Forest.
If I was targeting something, it would be a lake. So much of the Black Forest's charming culture centers around lakes. I'd maybe research the Schwarzenbachaldsperre and/or little Herrenwieser See as destinations or jumping off points. I don't know, but it's likely that these places are reachable by a pretty easy bus connection from Baden Baden.
Good luck have fun, watch out for all the fairy tale creatures that live in those woods :)
Posted by
Vancouver, Canada
71 posts
I'd highly recommend the Panoramaweg that circles Baden-Baden (one stage of which Russ recommended above)! It's easy to reach any stage by public transit from Baden-Baden and it's a beautiful, well-signed, and well-maintained trail. I believe they've made a few changes since I hiked it in 2017 (looks like they've added a few more kilometers and changed it from 5 stages to 4) but it was a perfect way to get into nature quickly.
I'd recommend linking stages 2 and 3 for a good day's hiking, including a little waterfall:
Here are some photos from the trail: https://theamblingadventurer.wordpress.com/2017/11/11/hiking-black-forest-baden-baden-panoramaweg/
A good day hiking followed by an evening at the baths is the perfect Baden-Baden combo!
Posted by
740 posts
Was in BadenBaden two days ago. Hiked section of Panoramaweg from town center at the Freidreisbad spa up to Alta Schloss castle and followed it around to Mercur funicular and back to town. Took about 3 1/2 hours easy pace including climbing all up and throughout the castle. Nicely wooded.
Map you get in town is very basic mapping. There are Panoramaweg signs along the way. I used maps.me. Set it for Alta Schloss from spa and follow it up. Then, use the signs. Several cross trails after that, but use the maps.me if confusing.
Maps.me.
Excellent for most all map needs. Learn to use it. No internet connection needed.
Posted by
Washington
470 posts
We just stayed in Baden Baden. I can’t imagine anything better after a day of hiking than the baths. We stayed at this hotel https://www.aquaaurelia.de/en/index.html which is directly connected via tunnel with one of the prominent baths.
We can not recommend the hotel highly enough. Breakfast is excellent, rooms are spacious. Get a room with a view of the park and baths, not street side. Walking distance to plenty of restaurants and shopping.